What was Broken?
by Alpha G
Summary: "No one can hear you Finn. I made sure of that." Never had Finn been so afraid in his life. It worse than the idea of him drowning alone in the middle of the ocean or the possibility of facing the Lich again in the future. It is a battle he has no hope of fighting back or even a chance of resisting; for all his skills and experience, the best he could do is delay the inevitable.
1. The First Preluding Hour

**Okay, this is the **_**THIRD**_** time I have to re-post this and I couldn't leave it as it was before since I am a fricking bloody perfectionist. So I apologize to anyone who followed the previous versions of my story. **

**This is an AU Fic that diverged from the canon timeline sometime after **_**Vault of Bones**_** but before **_**Simon & Marcy**_**. The purpose of this fic is to show how Finn sees and feels about his relationships with the main characters of the show.**

* * *

**What was Broken**

**By **

**Kira-is-Watching-You**

**The First Preluding Hour:**

"_Bonds of friendship, by my definition, are_

_the products of idealistic suckers who delude_

_themselves into believing that it strengthens_

_a hero's resolve when facing against impossible_

_odds. But should the Illusions shatter, even all_

_the forces in all the worlds beyond cannot break_

_a chump's will effectively as the simple actions_

_of a friend whom forsaken them. What was _

_once their pillar of light is now dagger twisted _

_through their heart and soul; the anguish, _

_misery and despair consuming him afterwards _

_is certainly a most beautiful sight to behold. _

_Trust me I should know, whoever is reading _

_this should have seen the look of Julius _

_Caesar's face when his pal Brutus stabbed him. _

_Ahhhh goo– I mean bad times. _"

– **Princess Evil****, pg. 56 – 57, **_**Tabulariis **__**Bonorum et Malorum**_

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**- Current Time: 01:00:00 AM**

Finn the human finds himself many feet away from the endpoint of a long narrowing forest path blanketed in snow. From what his weary eyes can distinguish, the exit lying in the far distance in front of him is undoubtedly the single largest source of light he came upon so far, illuminating and bringing forth it glow throughout the darkest depths of these woods.

Discarding the bloody head of a rabid whywolf he just decapitated earlier to the side of the frost-covered road, Finn sheath his sword and from there begins making his way to the end of the path while keeping track of all his surroundings. That and making sure the trail of foot prints he's leaving behind in the snow are swept away. With all manner of evil beasts lurking the woods in the dead of dark tonight, Finn had to remain on constant guard against any and all possibilities of an ambush or two. Should he fail to remain vigilant…well...let say it would have been his head rotting on the ground right now instead rather that of the whywolf.

Out of caution rather than paranoia for this reason alone, Finn's left hand is always behind his neck near the handle grip of his demon blood sword, his fingers twitching in anticipation of for a future attack and itching to unleash the full fury of his crimson blade against all of those who dare oppose him. Already he hacked and wasted a score of whywolves, poes, killer rabbits and some rodents of unusual sizes on his way here from his original destination. Whatever remains of his enemies – whether in pieces or intact – can be seen littering all over the forest floor behind him; their mutilated carcasses serving as a reminder to all those who are evil never to underestimate the hero when taking him head on.

Or from behind.

Or from above.

Or just from any direction in general.

What was once a little boy eleven years of age now stands a young man whom recently turned eighteen as of a few days ago. Gone are his regular denim blue shorts he so frequently wore before back when he was a little boy; and in their place is now a pair of dark navy blue jeans – fasten by a belt with a compartment in it's buckle that holds shurikens. The hero's T-Shirt, in contrast, bears no notable and subtle differences to the one the he originally wore during his younger years except that it is slightly darker in tone. Only his signature and awesome Bear-Skin Hat remains unaltered, no different in terms of appearances, except that in size, than the one he wore as an infant when he was found at the foot of Boom-Boom Mountain. But with Finn's age ever increasing so every passing year; soon the hero would eventually have to abandon his hat all together now that one can see a few messy locks of his long golden hair threatening to spill out everywhere at any given moment.

But as of Finn's latest violent clash with the monsters inhabiting these woodlands, his outfit has seen better days. Everywhere on him – except that of his hat – are the fabric of his shirt and pants stained with blotches of newly dry blood – not of the hero's but that of his enemies – of various shapes and sizes. And what is not drenched in dark hues of crimson red is complemented by the large numbers of tears and slashes – in courtesy of his enemies' fangs and claws – adorning his clothes…or at least whatever is left of them.

Even Finn's body was unable to come out unscathed against the previous onslaught of which he was subjected to earlier by the now dead forest inhabitants. There are a few bruises, cuts, and scratches here and there covering the surface of his left arm and both his legs, but nothing too bad that a couple of Band-Aids from his first-aid kit couldn't fix. But the same can't be said the large gashes that Finn is sporting on his chest and right arm, threatening to spill out torrents of blood should the hero continues to overstrain himself. Were it not for the ointment and thick layers of bandages wrapped tightly around him keeping his wounds in check, who knows how long ago Finn would have succumb to his injuries.

"Bbbbrrrrrrhhhh." Finn shivers as a sudden gust of wind blew near him, causing the temperature – already cold to begin with – to abruptly drop south towards freezing conditions. Opening the zip folds of his trusty green backpack, the human rummaged through his belongings and pulled out a nice yellow sweater, donning it quickly and carefully as he can to rid himself of the sudden chills.

Why he is here so late at night in the freezing wilderness instead of the warm comfort of a sleeping bag in his Tree Fort, the hero cannot remember anything at all. Nothing except that he woke up all alone on a giant rock near a running river in a different part of the woods no little a while ago. And from his watch indicates – before it conveniently decides to become broken for who know what reason, it is already an hour past midnight.

Although it would not matter anyway since, as far as Finn could tell as he pulling out some gloves, his perception of day and night within this wilderness is close to nonexistent no thanks to the tress packed tightly all around him on both sides of the trail. The longer he walk, the more he notice that their trunks – some wide and thick enough to hold a rough estimate of 50 people should the base ever be reduce to a stump…somehow – are at length taller than almost any tower he ever scaled before, rising high into the depths of the forest canopies above in an almost endless black abyss. Black no doubt due to the overabundances of leaves covering the branches high overhead, creating a thick mesh dense enough to prevent all manner of light outside – whether it is that of either the sun or moon – from penetrating the surface tops.

Same couldn't be said for the snow though.

After putting on some warm gloves, Finn stop and begins to wonder why he's here by himself as he promptly begin rubbing his hand together rapidly to generate some body heat, occasional blowing warm air from his mouth into it. Of all times the last human is out alone in the dark, it had to be during that period of year when the weather gets all chilly. All around him he notices the trees, shrubs and whatever flora and fauna that litters the forest floor cover in a thick and white blanket of frost. But as cold as it right now, the chances of catching the flu, common cold or 'freezer burns' are the least of his worries at the moment. From the horrific tales his radical dame of a friend Marceline Abadeer use to tell him to bed, fiendish creatures like Wendigos and the 'Abdominal Snowman' comes out to stalk these woods in the coldest and deadliest of subzero winter conditions.

It was said that the former was forever a slave to it's eternal hunger, endlessly searching for new victims to cannibalize and devour that in turn creates more of their cursed kind – like vampires, except messier and much _worse_. The latter of the two, according to Marceline, is what becomes of _anyone_ – good, evil or neutral – who were unfortunate enough gets lost in the woods and succumb to death from the freezing cold. Once death claims their soul, only an empty shell of a body is left behind animated by it's drive to steal the body heat of other creatures not like themselves that still walk among the living. But more often than not, the vampire queen mentioned that sometimes the two are often one of the same creatures no different than each other except in name.

Like mermaids and sirens along with chimeras and manticores.

"_**Finn."**_

"What was that?" Finn asked, his moment of thought abruptly broken by the call of his name. It was barely a whisper, yet as clear as a bell at the time the human boy's ears caught of it. Unaware of where the voice is coming from, the hero began scanning the area for anything strange and unusual – at least by Ooo's standards.

What he was rewarded with was a few minutes of dead silence for nothing, except for the occasional howl of the wind, could be heard within the woods. But after a while, even the wind died down leaving behind only an unnatural state of calm and stillness; nothing of which was entirely foreign to Finn – having encounter such unnerving instants recurrently before in his past dungeon crawls, yet was never able to get used to them. What felt like an eternity of silence, eerily too long for his liking, is finally shatter when the hero's ear caught the sound of a faint rustle coming from one of the bushes to his right.

Quickly drawing two shurikens out of his belt buckle Finn threw one of the projectiles at what he believes to be the source, reframing himself from hurling the other one now in his hand. Should it be another enemy, at least Finn has another throwing star that he could make use of to take out one eye with and a couple more left in his buckle; more than enough to simultaneously hit all it's vital areas. And in Finn's injured state being, excessive use of his sword often utilize frequently in the past should be limited as much as possible now to prevent wounds from opening up, unless a killing blow achieve in single stroke of his blade is absolutely certain.

So far Finn heard nothing else rustling in the bush; perhaps whatever hiding in there is now dead or at least close to dying. Nor did he saw any traces of foot prints leading towards and away from it either. But not taking any chances Finn threw another shurriken into the shrub, grabbing out five more from his belt before moving in closer. And to his relief he saw that the only thing the sharp point of his weapons made contact with is the surface of a log; rather than some part of monstrous creature he has no desire to face again.

As Finn make his way to the bush to collect his weapon the hero suddenly stop dead in his tracks, for in front of him far deep within the woods is…um well…Finn doesn't know what it is. The only way to describe what the hero is witnessing right now is a pitch dark figure billowing in the wind coursing through the woods like curtains on a window experiencing a nice summer breeze. And from what Finn could make out, it appears to be around his height in terms of size wearing a cloak that barely touches the ground.

Finn rubbed his tired eyes before squinting to get a better look at what he supposed to being seeing; most likely thinking that it some kind of blanket stuck to a tree branch. However after doing so, the human discover that mysterious figure has vanished completely from his sight no less than a second latter, leaving not a trace of it's existence in sight.

Feelings of anxiousness and unease began to cloud Finn's mind as he examine the area around him once more, this time in search for this shadowy figure he just saw earlier. He knows full well it can't be a blanket then since there is no branch for it to hang from; a wind this weak couldn't blow something around that size out of his sight so quickly either. But most importantly, why would something like that be here in the first place.

Maybe it is these Wendigos and 'Abdominal Snowman' he was thinking about minutes ago stalking him, waiting in the safety of the shadows of the trees for a perfect opportunity to attack him at his weakest and most vulnerable. Or perhaps the exhaustion resulting from his heroic activities in the woods is finally taking a toll on Finn, affecting his senses enough for him to see hallucination of things that were never really there. Between his weary eyes and his body wreck by fatigue, all he just needs to get some nice long good night sleep.

Sleep.

Sleep. Yeah, something as simple and mundane as that would be rather nice and comforting right about now. But in a place like this, Finn's tired body will find no such refuge in slumber with his life subjected to danger at any given moment. He may be an adventurer and a noble hero by heart, but the human is not stupid enough to risk an entire night alone here either.

Dislodging his shurikens from the log at last, Finn continues proceeding to the exit – albeit in a far quicker fashion than usual. The sooner he leaves this place, the better for this hero is not staying any second longer to test whether or not Marceline's tales are fact or myth.

"Marceline." Finn whispers to himself as he sped up his pace.

It has been many years since he last talked to the Vampire Queen in person let alone hang with her. From all the times Finn once spent with her – whether they were strangling pixies or having jam sessions together, he learned quickly that she is never the type who would simply give out a straight answer to _any_ of your questions. Rather she mostly prefers to respond in manners that would force you to think outside your comfort zone and come up with answers on your own. Whether it because she genially wants Finn to figure things by himself or it's simply a smokescreen to avoid appearing ignorant in front of anyone, the hero cannot say he knows for sure.

Feelings of resentment begin to enter his head as he increases his pace to a powerwalk.

Still to this day, Finn has no clue on whether Marceline is being serious about what she told him regarding the Wendigos and 'Abdominal Snowman' or just merely messing with his head as usual. Given her usual track record, Finn is it willing to bet it is the latter of the two because after all…

How many times was he the butt of her many jokes – several of which the hero could count with both hands – that eventually got out of hand?

And how many times was he mercilessly called out by her and mocked for his optimistic approach in life – or at least what she dubs as 'naivety' – and tease for his own ignorance in all matters outside of adventuring?

Anger and frustration cloud his head as his pacing increase, from a power walk to full on running, unmindful to the fact he might open his wounds again

For all he know Marceline could have secretly placed him here in the first place, probably just waiting for the right moment to come up from behind and scare the filling out of him as she typically do to Jake. It not too much of the stretch to believe that may have kidnaped him from his own home – or her home so the immortal claims – since she did mention once that she often hides out in the tree fort, spying on him from wherever or whenever he and his bro least expects it – such as under a pile of dirty clothes or when he and Jake were about to sleep.

As for her awaiting ambush, discounting the details that there are a lot trees and shrubs to hide behind in the dark and the vampire's natural ability to fly, there is always invisibility – one of many powers vampires like Marceline have at their disposal – she could utilize as a very effective scare tactic against him. Not to mention her shape-shifting abilities; as so far of what he witnessed firsthand were limited only to werewolves, giant bats, tentacle monsters and…a… bigger, badder and not so hot version of herself from what the hero saw at the end of the Door Lord incident.

But at least according to Princess Bubblegum's accounts, undead monarch can also transform into a salamander dragon, giant demon bird…thing, a '_cthulhu_' whatever that is and various other mythical creatures. If Marcy is capable of assuming all those forms, there is no doubt in Finn's mind and he's willing to bet the immortal is more proficient enough to shift into the form of a Wendigo and an 'Abdominal Snowman' as well. Heck, the vampire queen could easily be the dark silhouette lurking in the woods he saw earlier. Everything that happened to him tonight is undoubtedly one big game for her to enjoy at his expense.

That has to be it!

"No" Finn told himself, slowing down the pace and intensity of his stride to that of a jog.

Yet despite all the cruel and unpleasant things his immortal friend would constantly inflict on him for her own amusement…,

"That couldn't be it." His pace continue to slow

…deep down Finn knows full well that there is no way Marceline would go this far if it meant endangering his life.

"She wouldn't do that..." whispered Finn, who's now power walking.

Thinking back to all the moments the hero once hung out with the vampire queen – whether it was his first time with her as her henchman to chasing and wrestling a pack of wolves together under the full moon during couple's movies night, everything she said _always_ held a seed of truth in them. No matter how vague, unclear and confusing the words coming of her mouth may seem at first; whether on purpose or not, in the end they always prove to be unexpectedly helpful.

"She'll never go this far." His pace continues to decrease.

Unfortunately, there were various times in his youth that Finn wished he had heeded the vampire queen's subtle words of wisdom – which were more often than not just plain common sense now that he thought about it. The last human lost count on many times in the past he founded himself in the midst of danger beyond his capabilities; face palming himself multiple times when he came to realize in his latter years that they were all the consequences of both his reckless behavior and boastful tendencies to accept any challenge that comes his way. Almost every time when Jake is not there to bail him out, Marceline would always be the one to swoop down and rescue him from certain death; always the one constantly inverting the role of both the hero and damsel in distress, not that he's complaining.

And always there to protect the human when he least expects it.

"Not Marceline." Exclaimed Finn, content to walk now rather than run.

Well maybe not _always_ but definitely at least ever since that one time when her old gang attempt to murder both he and his canine brother not long after they were duped into believing they were vampires.

Not once, but TWICE in one night alone.

Sure Marcy rescued him again as usual and everything was resolved rather peacefully over a nice _Heat Signature_ movie, but the damage has already been inflicted. Strange as it sounds, getting beaten up by Marceline's donking former friends, falling to your death and almost having their brains sucked out and made into muss doesn't seem to matter to Finn compare to the long term consequences that greatly affected him afterwards.

"Not her." The human's pace still slowing down.

It wasn't noticeable at first, but it never stay like that for long – after all, nothing in the world does. Compare to all his other friends – especially Jake, Princess Bubblegum and…arguably…Ice King, Finn's moments together with Marceline were very infrequent, yet every minute spent with her was unforgettable. But ever since that particular episode with the ghosts, the few times he actually get to hang out with the vampire queen in person were slowly reduced to rare occurrences; the number of days in between one get-together and the next gradually extended into weeks. What were once a couple of weeks before eventually became several months instead and what were formerly many months, as of right now, had devolved into long years. What became of their jam sessions, their pranks on LSP, their many attempts at ruining couple's movie night and all their adventures together when Jake's not present…?

…Everything he and Marcy once done together just simply ceased to be.

"Never her" Finn mutters, struggling to pick up his feet in the snow .

Finn doesn't need the Glasses of Nerdicon or any fundamental skills in math or science to assist him in realizing that his thousand year old friend was purposely avoiding him. But why exactly Marcy is doing this, the human boy cannot say he knows for sure what the intentions behind the vampire queen's actions are. In his head the hero could only think of a handful of possibilities; at best Marceline was simply too busy performing with her band – the _Scream Queens_ – on their tour throughout the Land of Ooo. It's that or the simple fact that since Marcy's a vampire and vulnerable to sun light, she's nocturnal and only available around the late hours when the human's either getting ready for bed or already fast asleep in his sleeping bag.

Surely these were the case why her times with the hero are so infrequent nowadays…

…hopefully

But whatever her intentions were, the vampire queen probably has of her reasons for doing so; neither good nor certainly…bad, but still reasons nonetheless. But still…

…It hurts.

"But why…" Finn's feet is now reduce to slugging it way through the snow.

Hurts just as much as Finn's final moment with Marceline in person, arguably one of two of his worst memories regarding his immortal friend; ones the hero wish nothing more than to lock them away forever in the 'vault'. It was back when Ice King first came to her house; seeking the vampire queen's musical expertise to help assist him in composing a couple of new songs. Once again, it was just another desperate bid – one of far too many, yet surprisingly tame in comparison to all his past schemes – the big nerd believed would help him succeed in wooing the hearts of any princesses. Finn and his bro recommended at the time to help get rid of the big blue nerd – violently of course coupled with the usual kicking and screaming as a part of his lesson – should he continue to harass his undead friend in her own home. Surprisingly Marceline declined their offer, but what's more astonishing was that she suggested that they should both leave instead while she off to set up some equipment that would help the unruly monarch get what he wanted all along.

Whatever happened and occurred during that incident, it certainly had major impact on both the last human and the vampire queen. Ever since that day, Finn would often see the Ice King flying in the sky, day, night it didn't matter, in the direction towards Marceline's house; the sound of drums, keys, and strings resonating loudly from inside the cave and within surrounding area outside. Obviously a jam session and hardly unusual since, as far Finn could remember, the last time he saw the two monarchs, when either of them were not crying, destroying stuff, or hugging each, they were playing their instruments.

But irks him so much to this day was that whenever Ice King's not around, Finn remembers that any attempts he made to visit Marceline was rendered mute by a single note nailed to her door saying; it's contents not even bothering to warn the human of the consequences of entering the vampire queen's house again when left unattended. Instead, what was written shows that the immortal girl was either off to the Ice kingdom or exploring the ruins of some Pre-Mushroom City with the Ice King for the whole day at best or an entire month or two at worst. Certainly much longer and more frequently than the amounts of time Marceline put any effort into hanging out with Finn _combined_.

Strange enough as it is, Finn couldn't help but feel threaten by Ice King's continual presence in Marceline's life, one that is becoming stronger each day. It is as if that every time he sees him with her, the human feels…jealous.

Jealous of the strength of the bond and trust between her and Ice King, one Finn starting to believe was never really present at all between him and Marceline – even if she did trust him enough with her _Fries Song_.

Jealous at the level of commitment and patience the vampire queen exerts and puts effort into when hanging with a weird and crazy sociopath like Ice King, something she never spares a single once of whenever Finn unintentionally screwed up or unwittingly pissed her off.

And certainly jealous of the fact that he's slowly being replaced, if not having done so already, by Ice King as her new best friend, without considering how he feels about this whole arrangement. It was almost like the Door Lord incident all over again, specifically the instance when everyone in the group left, unmindful to his plead to stick and work together as a group so in the end they could open the door and retrieve their stolen stuff.

He felt ignored…

…unappreciated

…and unwanted.

"…why couldn't it be her this time?" Finn taking back all he said about his friend earlier, all his doubts and accusation about her…all of which he now wishes that were true.

Despite everything he's done – both direct and indirect – to make the human's life miserable, as a hero Finn couldn't find it in his heart to hate Ice King, or more importantly the man who unwittingly over many centuries became the sole ruler of the Ice Kingdom. From what he saw in the last of the monarch's secret tapes, he's a sad shadow of man tragically forever futilely chasing after his beloved whom now long gone. Given their rather advances ages and the revelation that both Ice King and Marceline lived something before the eve of the Great Mushroom War, it not too much of stretch for Finn to believe that she knew Simon Petrikov. What's his relationship with her, it's unlikely Marceline of going to tell him if he asked; just like among many other things the human discovered in her memories after beating up her jerk of an ex-boyfriend Ash.

To be honest, one part of Finn felt kinda happy that Ice King has someone, besides Gunter, whom could call as a friend and have loads of fun with. It is even better that Marceline voluntarily choose to hang out with him as well…as opposed to the unruly monarch's past attempts where force he and Jake into spending quality time with him. Most of which just boils to being kidnap and frozen alive/paralyze and forced listen to his glob awful _Adventure Time with Fionna & Cake_ Fanfiction over and over again.

"Oh" Finn finally came to a definite stop.

But regardless of how he feels, it doesn't matter anymore. It's already been going on like this for almost the past five years already and still counting. Five years is more than enough time for Finn to finally take into serious consideration over what Marceline told had him back long ago when he was still 13 ½ years old. It was when Marceline invited him and Jake to a party in the Night O'Sphere, only for her dad to show up and trick her into wearing the amulet, filling her with enough chaotic evil dark energy that would possess and force her to become the next ruler of his domain. Having endured the worst tortures of what the Night O'Sphere has to offer – very _very __**long **__**LINES**_– and survived an encounter with an all-powerful demon version of Marceline herself, Finn saved her in the end…

…not without grabbing the amulet and succumbing to the full force of it's chaotic evil that threatened to consume his soul.

What happened afterwards, he couldn't remember anything except that he, Jake and Marceline is back at the Tree Forts and everything that happened between his undead friend and her dad has been resolved peacefully. At least that what Jake told him, obviously leaving out some important details. Finn's mind maybe all blurry and messed at the time, but contrary to what both friends believed he was neither unconscious or in a vegetable state. But what he heard made him wished that he was, her words still cemented in his head to this day.

"_I don't wanna hang out with you guys anymore."_

"…That was why." Finn stood alone in the snow.

Finn stood in the cold, a single teak in his left threaten to leak but was quickly suppress.

She wasn't kidding that time, why would she? Everything that occurred after the Night O'Sphere episode – or lack of more like it – proves how dead serious she is. No matter how much Finn wants to deny it, why would _this_ be any _different_ from the rest?

The human just hopes it wasn't _something_ if not _anything_ he has he done that drove them apart permanently for good.

"_**Finn**_**"** A voice, faint and barely a whisper, called out to him once more, snapping him out of his depression.

Finn turned quickly, listening for any indication of the voices direction making sure that this time for sure heard it a voice, almost pleading, and definitely feminine. except from deep within the column of trees to the far right of the road.

Before Finn could move, he felt the sudden chill slowly moving down his back_** "Don't move."**_

Finn turns around to confront his assailant…only to find nothing. Nothing at all except a rather ornate dagger.

_something _whispered in his ear._** "Don't turn around."**_

High above him however is a different story.

Perching on the large branches high above Finn lays an owl; a rather _big_ owl quite larger in proportions – if not monstrously _huge_ – than the usual varieties the hero frequently come across with before in his earlier adventures.

From the looks of it, the owl appears to equal in height of that of a regular two story building but it size alone is not the bird's most unusual feature. for it feathers appears to be gleaming, almost metallic yet retains an almost organic.

Finn's face paled as dread and terror filled his body for the first time tonight, a feat that not even the whywolves, poes, killer rabbits and a couple of rodents of unusual sizes whom all ambushed and attacked him at several different points earlier manage to achieve.

He instantly recognizes this new foe in front him for the hero remembered the images and accounts of it, pictures of which shows it attacking and dismembering elephants ten times the size of Tree Trunks, which once covered the pages of the bestiary section of the Enchiridion before it was destroyed.

No, it is a Strix

And at the moment quite possibility far beyond his capability to slay right now whether he is perfect condition of not.

Finn slowly backed away, making sure to make any noise that would alert his presence. But long as this large bird of prey remains unaware, perhaps he can just sneak past it and make his way to the exit without –

Finn trip over a rock and fall on his back, spilling the content of his backpack of which created a clatter of sounds

Looking down from it's branch, it's eyes locked on to Finn, now aware of his company here now.

"…Glob dammit." Finn cursed himself, now rapidly picking up all his stuff before taking off. "Too Late."

The Strix hoot loudly, sending thunderous echoes resonating throughout the woods that resulted in torrents of snow hanging in all the tress within the radius of ten to twenty feet falling in large volumes to the ground. It spread large wings, revealing a metallic hue.

Finn had too stop and catch his breath, noticing that he still nowhere close to the end of the road. At this pace, he won't make it, which leaves him with one other choice left. Pulling out a crossbow, Finn begins loading four armor piercing bolts onto the weapon.

Swords are of no use here.

The Strix jump from it's branch and soar a high speeds towards Finn, it's talon ready to make mincemeat of him.

It's kill…

Finn finally loaded his cross bow, and being aiming for the Strix, now just a few feet away from decapitating his head.

…or be killed.

**- Current Time: 01:59:59 AM**

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**Author Notes:**

**For every two friends you gain back, you lose one in the process. So what do you think? Feel free to review and PM me since it my first fanfic in a VERY LONG time and I do appreciate if you give me some constructive feedback. Obviously, my writing is in need of some improvement (everyone does anyway at some point) and it is rather rush near the end but in time I'll get there. But as of this moment, is my writing overly redundant and full of purple prose or I'm just imagining things? I can't make any improvements without some feedback or someone to Beta for me.  
**

**Originally, this was supposed to be the prologue for another fanfiction I'm planning on making. But given it's tone and the fact that clashes with the pacing of my other fanfic, I decided to make this into a oneshot. But after a while, then I decided to make this into a five chapter prequel story instead. **

**And no, as much as absolutely I love the pairing, it is NOT a Finn/Marceline Fic. There are too many ones of low quality flooding this site already and there is reason why this fic is marked by Finn only…for now. You'll just have to guess the pairing...which isn't an OC by the way.**

**UPDATE: Expect a new chapter every one to two weeks.**


	2. Author Notes: Temporary Hiatus

**AUTHOR NOTE:**

Sorry for the very long delay, but between me being a graduate student fresh out of college working two minimum wage part times jobs less than 30 hours a week, dealing with the constant presences of student loan debts looming over my shoulders, struggling to help my family with their ever increasing financial difficulties and, as of Wednesday, being subjected to two thugs breaking into my home while threating me and stealing my stuff (which I got back thanks to the cops that showed up to arrest them) when I was taking a nap all alone…I'm less than fine but managing to put up with them regardless.

I hope you guys think too badly of me but at the moment due to the level of stress I'm already dealing with both at home and work, the next chapter of this story going to be put on hiatus until May 01. Hopefully by then things cool down for me.

Don't worry; I have no intention of abandoning this story either since there are a lot of Adventure Time fanfiction ideas I want to write about that BOTH the show and the fandom NEVER brings ups…not that I'm going to tell what they are. Also I wanted to create something original for everyone to enjoy for once seeing that more than half of the stories on this website are focus mainly on romance and shipping at the expenses of everything else. It is those two ...and the fact that writing fanfiction only means of utilizing my frequent bouts of depression into something far more constructive as an alternative to…well you know.

Man I sound as sad as Ice King…

…Anyway enough with the ranting and blabbering I hope you enjoy the previous chapter. Please leave a review and feel free to offer some constructive criticism.


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